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Kagami Goes Out 2

anonymous_object — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:35:03 +0000

Phew, these photos are late ^^; I was going through some of my older photo collections and realized I still had some decent Mamachapp Kagami pics to post. These are from last Fall.

Ah, Fall. One of my favorite times of the year in Indiana. The weather turns crisp and cool and the leaves trade green for shades of red and gold. Kagami insisted on going outside to play in the leaves ^^;

Kagami is also wearing her new outfit (well, it was new back in Fall ^^;). Can you tell what it is? ;)

Better look at Kagami’s outfit. It’s bloomers ^^. Did you guess it correctly?

“This is my pumpkin. Don’t even think about trying to touch it!”

“See, it works as a chair too!”

“W-what are you looking at!? Just because I’m wearing bloomers… honestly!”

*Kagami visits America xD

Going for a ride on the tire swing!

Thanks for viewing! :D

Boo Boo KagaBoo!

anonymous_object — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:00:45 +0000

This small packet of awesome arrived today. What could it be? Boo Boo KagaBoo, of course! Confused? Wondering why Kagami has turned into a cute piggy thing? Well, it’s a 4koma by Eretto, the guy behind the popular Nyoron Churuya-san manga ;) Yep, that guy. This is his take on Lucky Star :D

Kagabu! If you recall, I purchased a Kagabu plushie not so long ago. Some people find her strange looking but I think it’s kind of cute ;)

Opening page.
Kagabu: “Hey, pick me up, Konata!”
Kagabu: “What the heck was with that?”
Kagabu: “I’m Kaga…”
Konata: “Hey! Look this way!”
Kagabu: “I’m Kaga…”
Konata: “Ah, the battery died…”

lol xD

Random other page where Cherry assaults Kagabu xD
Kagabu: “W-What do you want?” *doki doki*
Cherry: *Flips skirt*
Kagabu: “Ahh! Wait! You’re not supposed to flip a girl’s skirt!”
Cherry: *Flips skirt with nose*
Kagabu: “Ahh!!”

The rest of the book has similarly silly yet entertaining comedy ^^

The set also come with small bonus book with a few more comics (like Chukasa xD) and some guest illustrations (like Kantoku!).

Last but not least, the set also included a miniature Kagabu figure. It’s quite small but pretty cute. Yui has taken a liking to it :D

If you want to get the Boo Boo KagaBoo set for yourself, Hobby Search still has the Limited Version (the one shown here) in stock for just 1,800 yen. The book is 95 pages, nearly all full color, and has furigana which is great for kanji-challenged people like me. A good buy by my terms! :D

FREEing 1/4 Scale Lucky Star Outfits

anonymous_object — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:11:49 +0000

Remember those huge 1/4 scale Lucky Star figures by FREEing? Well, I quite liked them and I haven’t forgotten about them ^^. That’s why I persisted on acquiring the sailor and miko outfits that were released for Wonder Festival a while back.

I say persisted because while I definitely wanted them, they were a difficult purchase. Not only were they dreadfully expensive at 4,000 yen per girl (4,000×4), they were exclusive items and had to be purchased through a deputy service (thanks Goody Japan!). So, yeah, quite costly in the end ^^;

But look! It was worth it :). Lucky Star girls in sailor uniforms. Very, very cute!

Miyuki was a bit difficult to dress due to her more shapely body ^^;

Kagami, my favorite!

The school uniform looks great on Kona-chan too ^^.

And cute little Tsukasa.

Each set of clothes came with both the school uniform as well as a miko outfit. Yuki was once again difficult to dress >_<

The miko outfits are more complex than the sailor uniforms and took like 40 minutes to get all the girls properly dressed ^^;

Kona-chan’s pose looks good in any outfit xD

The miko outfits were somewhat wrinkled. I probably should have ironed them ^^;

All four girls together!

Now I just need to decide which outfit to leave the girls dressed in. Gym uniforms, sailor uniforms, or miko outfits? ;)

Kagami Goes Out

anonymous_object — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:59:07 +0000

I was going through some of my older photos and forgot I had some more Kagami doll pics! These are from last Fall, before it became (completely) cold and drearily gray >_<
Thought I’d share them before they are too ancient ;)

Kagami didn’t want to play at first and was hiding up in a tree ^^;

Was eventually able to convince Kagami to go for a walk :)

Found a nice tree where Kagami could relax under the shade during a break in the clouds.

Back indoors. Kagami was going to try her hand at the piano but got embarrassed and wouldn’t play ^^;

Last pic, hope you liked them :)

I have a few more Kagami photos from last Fall that I will be posting soon ^^

Happy Valentine’s Day!

anonymous_object — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:56:32 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day from me and Kagami! I hope everyone has a good day (and some yummy chocolate) ^^

First Snow Fall of the Year

anonymous_object — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:35:04 +0000

Kagami welcomes the first snow fall of 2010. She looks kind of cold, I should have gotten her a nice warm coat instead of that pink frilly dress xD

Indiana saw its first snow storm of 2010 and was a big one >_< Indianapolis area received approximately 6 inches of accumulation in as many hours time. Windy conditions complicated things with additional snow drifting over once-cleared roadways.

Decided not to risk driving my small, rear-wheel drive car all the way to work so opted to work from home today ^^ This poor guy had to go somewhere and was sweeping snow off his car with a broom xD

Once it cleared up a bit around noon, I decided to brave the roads just a mile or so to grab some lunch. I had to find my car first xD

Yes, there really is a car under there ;)

Only drove about a mile down the road but was probably a bad idea. Road conditions were terrible. Had to drive 10 mph the whole way but made it back safely >_< Lesson to learn: Don’t drive in snow!

Anyone else getting buried in snow too?

Merry Christmas from Kagami

anonymous_object — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:34:50 +0000

Kagami showing off her Christmas attire ^^

"Welcome to Christmas!"

"We have a tree, presents, and pretty lights"

"A p-present for me? You didn't have to..."

"I wonder what it is!"

"Now I really want to know!"

"New shoes! Thanks, onii-chan!"

Merry Christmas from Anony and Kagami! Hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Taking the next step – Hiiragi Kagami by Mama Chapp

anonymous_object — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:04:38 +0000

Kagami! In cute doll form! Need I say more? :D

Well, I’ll say a bit more than that ^^; This is Hiiragi Kagami as released by the Mama Chapp Toy company in Fall 2008. When I first read about the Lucky Star dolls, I was very interested but did not follow up due to the difficulty in obtaining them. Kagami was an limited, exclusive release by MamaChapp and was only available for order through their site. So, I abandoned the idea of owning this lovely Kagami for nearly a year.

My interest in the Kagami doll never faded entirely though and a few months back I decided to look into it once again. I saw they were being sold on Yahoo! Japan Auctions but most of the auctions were quite pricey. I monitored the auctions for a few months and finally spotted a decent deal for a brand new, unopened Kagami doll. I didn’t hesitate and placed a bid through a deputy service. The auction final price was 14,500 yen, a bit lower than the original retail price; not cheap but well worth it! A few weeks later, Kagami was in my hands :D

I have to admit that I’m still a doll n00b and don’t know much about Japanese dolls quite yet. While it seems Dollfies are becoming more popular, the smaller scale dolls like this Kagami seem a bit more varied. Lots of different sizes and body types. Kagami here is a 23cm doll and comes with her red winter school uniform.

In addition to her school uniform, Mama Chapp included 3 extra hand sets (for 8 total), knee socks, and brown school loafers. And, of course, Kagami’s trademark brown hair ribbons :D

Now on to some real photos! I recommend opening the full versions to get the best look! :)

"D-Don't follow me around all day!"

Taking some inspiration from Chun’s “Taiga goes out” series, I decided to give Kagami a day out as well :) Let’s see what she decides to do ^^

Kagami pics a flower from the garden.

Kagami is made from ABS and PVC materials for the majority of the doll’s body, including the torso and limbs. The limbs are all jointed as are the torso, shoulders, and feet. This gives the doll a nice degree of poseability. The doll’s head and hands are composed of a softer rubber material.

"Wh-What are you looking at? Baka!"

Not quite a Dollfie, but there aren’t any Kagami Dollfies! I’m also not skilled enough to make my own Kagami Dollfie >_< Not that I think a Dollfie would necessarily be better than this Kagami anyway ^^.

"Nya~n!" *blush*

So, how is this Kagami doll? I have to say that I absolutely love her! She’s incredibly cute and being able to pose her is great. I mean, I know Figma can be posed too, but they just seem tacky compared to this. ^^; I’m beginning to realize why Dollfies have such a dedicated following. So, yes, I really do like her, but I don’t think I will be dropping figure collecting either. I do foresee myself cutting down on future figure purchases but definitely not going away. Still lots of lovely figure ladies that I want to acquire ;)

"Hey, look what I found! ^^"

So there you have it. I do sort of see doll collecting, be it Dollfie or obitsu-type, as the next step beyond figure collecting and I’m glad to have gotten to this point. I actually had a ton of fun taking these initial photos though I perhaps waited a bit too long on posting them. I’ve had this Kagami doll for a few months now and you can probably tell by the green foliage that the photos are also a bit old ^^;

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed viewing the pictures as much as I did taking them ^^. I have more to come in future posts too so be sure to check back soon!

Some new goodies

anonymous_object — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:10:49 +0000

Some recently acquired goodies ^^. I’ve got a long list of figures that I have not yet had a chance to post about but have been quite busy recently (more on that soon). First up is the adorable and unique Kagabu plushie from Lucky Star. Kagabu is not an official character from the series. From some Google’ing, I found that there is a doujinshi comic in which Kagami is a pig/girl thing and this is what it’s based on. I haven’t read the manga so I don’t actually know what it’s about ^^; However, that didn’t stop me from wanting my own Kagabu :D

ぶーぶー

Kagabu is a play on words based on her name, Kagami, and the Japanese word for pig, buta (ぶた). That’s how you get Kagabu :D

A little short and stout but is a very humorous and fun collectible item, especially for a Kagami fan such as myself :)

Isn’t she cute? xD. The plushie was released earlier this year and I almost got her back then but hesitated. It’s a shame too because she’s sold out everywhere now and I had get her through YJA. Luckily, I got a good deal on a new plushie for a few hundred yen less than the original retail price. Just had to add on the deputy service commission, wire transfer, and shipping… >_<

Moving on to more Lucky Star loot (can you tell I like the series? ^^;). Here is Wave’s 1/12 scale Kagami and Tsukasa school uniform set. Yep, 1/12 scale. This is sort of a mini review for these mini figures ;)

Being 1/12 scale, they are quite small figures but they are surprisingly pretty decent quality. The uniforms have creases to add detail and the figures’ hair looks good. They even have frilly underskirts beneath their school uniforms skirts (yes, I looked >_<).

Kagami looks alright. Her face seems a bit flat and something about the eyes is a bit off but still I like her. I find it hard to dislike many variations of Kagami though :)

Tsukasa giving the popular V sign.

Kagami has a cute finger-pointing gesture.

Kagamin \^^/

Tsukasa, I love you too! She came with two removable yellow hair ribbons but I seemed to have misplaced the other one >_<. Oh well, the other one was flatter and I didn’t like it much anyway. Only real problem I have with this set is the price. 6,800 yen for both seemed a bit pricey considering they are only 1/12 scale!

And now, a sneak peak at some even newer items!

It was bound to happen. After convincing myself to purchase Konata and Kagami, I had to follow through and finish up the set. FREEing’s 1/4 scale Tsukasa has arrived! Unfortunately, probably won’t be able to have a review up for Tsukasa until next week :-/

And what’s this? Let’s just say I have a very special treat awaiting fellow Lucky Star fans. Any guesses? :)

Atelier Sai Hiiragi Kagami

anonymous_object — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:18:16 +0000

I’ve got a few new figures to cover but decided to pick my favorite character to start off with: Hiiragi Kagami from the series Lucky Star. This latest rendering of Kagami is by Atelier Sai, a company with which I did not have any prior experience.

So how does Atelier Sai’s non-scale Kagami scale up to the competition? Read on to find out ^^.

This Kagami is the first Lucky Star figure released by Atelier Sai. If I had to describe her pose, I would say Kagami is displaying her tsundere attitude. Leaning to the side, her hands on her hips, and giving you a long, hard, almost disapproving look. While you could say she is just standing there, I do like her pose. It fits her personality quite well. From some angles it does look like she is leaning too far to the side but overall the pose is attractive.

Kagami is dressed in her blue and white summer school uniform. Of course, twin tails + her brown hair ribbons are here as well ^^

Special bonus with this figure! Her skirt is raised on one side as if a heavenly breeze just drifted by ;)

Her ears seem to stick out a bit more than I expected but it’s really only noticeable when viewed from a lower angle. The rest of her head is to my liking. Her eyes, one of the most important aspects of any figure, are an accurate representation of her anime appearance with sharp points on the top outer edges and are a nice shade of blue. Her mouth is just a little dot but this too is an accurate representation ^^;

Uh-oh, she spotted me ^^;

Full view from below. Atelier Sai decides to go the same route as FREEing did with their 1/4 Kagami. Shimapan ^^;

My favorite shot of the bunch ^^.

Atelier Sai’s Kagami beside Clayz’s Kagami. Clayz’s 1/8 scale figure seemed to be the best to compare against. You can see that the white seifuku on Atelier Sai’s version is closer to actual white whereas Clayz is a odd off-white color. Also, looking at them side by side makes you realize how bad the eyes look on Clayz’s version. Atelier Sai is definitely more accurate in this regard. Also, notice the hair color? This is probably the only thing Clayz’s did better. Atelier Sai made Kagami’s hair too blue, not enough purple/pink in it. It looks closer to Konata’s hair color >_<. It seems the more blue shade is not an unheard of occurrence with Kagami fanart so perhaps this shade of blue was intentional.

In any case, I do like this figure. If I had to choose between Atelier Sai’s Kagami and Clayz’s, I would definitely pick this one. It just feels more like Kagami than Clayz’s. So, yes, I’m satisfied with this purchase ^^. Atelier Sai is releasing a similar Tsukasa figure soon though I don’t know if Konata and Miyuki will be following later.

This figure is still in stock at Hobby Search and HLJ so you can easily pick her up if you’re interested ^^. 4,800 yen retail.

Figure Info:

Hiiragi Kagami (non-scale) from Lucky Star by Atelier Sai
Released: August 2009
Retail Price: 4,800 yen